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Lot Essay
Ferdinand Bury, maître in 1774.
Bury is chiefly know for the elegant, simple and undecorated lines of his pieces, all of which date from the Louis XVI period. While the present commode is further adorned with a Greek key frieze, foliate-decorated chutes d'angles and a 'lambrequined tasseled fringe' to the lower drawer, it nevertheless exemplifies the restrained architectural appeal and understated elegance of the ébéniste's output.
A related commode by Bury was sold at Christie's, London, 13 December 2001, lot 518 (£80,750 with premium), while a further commode from the Russell B. Aitken Collection, was sold at Christie's, New York, 25 November 2003, lot 54.
Interestingly, the existence of the Bury's stamp alongside that of the celebrated ébéniste de la Couronne Jean-Henri Riesener on a commode bearing the marque au feu for the château de Versailles (now in the Musée du Louvre, Bequest of Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911) indicates that the two collaborated occasionally (D. Alcouffe, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, p. 269). The distinctive resemblance of the latter commode with many of Bury's pieces furthermore suggests that it was Riesener who subcontracted the work to Bury.
Bury is chiefly know for the elegant, simple and undecorated lines of his pieces, all of which date from the Louis XVI period. While the present commode is further adorned with a Greek key frieze, foliate-decorated chutes d'angles and a 'lambrequined tasseled fringe' to the lower drawer, it nevertheless exemplifies the restrained architectural appeal and understated elegance of the ébéniste's output.
A related commode by Bury was sold at Christie's, London, 13 December 2001, lot 518 (£80,750 with premium), while a further commode from the Russell B. Aitken Collection, was sold at Christie's, New York, 25 November 2003, lot 54.
Interestingly, the existence of the Bury's stamp alongside that of the celebrated ébéniste de la Couronne Jean-Henri Riesener on a commode bearing the marque au feu for the château de Versailles (now in the Musée du Louvre, Bequest of Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911) indicates that the two collaborated occasionally (D. Alcouffe, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, p. 269). The distinctive resemblance of the latter commode with many of Bury's pieces furthermore suggests that it was Riesener who subcontracted the work to Bury.